Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

03 September  2019

Voting Irregularities & War Crimes

Zero base start is essential in democracy. This does not mean that we have no credit or debit carried forward from our past. It acknowledges that when our relatives in a new structure are of different cultural origin, the two or more  minds  would not naturally merge to uphold one structure. Hence zero advantage start – in democracy which is about lateral spread after completion of work as per our respective structures. But this does not mean that we ‘lose’ the value of our past. We carry it as heritage – motivational force. Wealth underpinned by Energy – is heritage. Heritage should be protected to recognize its own truth. In an orderly system – it would be protected as Altar Power.  It should not be brought into the current pool of debits and credits. If it is – then that property loses its soul-value and becomes relative. A heritage is special because it naturally spreads itself amongst its heirs. 

I believe I became an heir of Indigenous heritage here in Australia – as well as in Northern Sri Lanka where the Customary law of Thesawalamai continues to be practiced actively in marriage. My book – Jaffna is my Heritage and not Dowry – was completed this time in Jaffna during Nallur Festival. The Printers referred to it as ‘Jaffna Book’.  I shared it also with Jetwing Hotel staff who demonstrate respect for Jaffna tradition. I believe that that would protect them to the extent they are genuinely respectful of Jaffna tradition. My book (published by Andra Publishers) was published on 24 August 2019 and was first distributed in Vaddukoddai. When back in Sydney, I read the following report by Sunday Observer I realised why I felt the urge to have mine released before I left Jaffna:

[The first ever Jaffna Book Fair 2019 organized by the Ceylon Importers’ and Exporters’ Association will be held at the Weerasingham Hall, Jaffna, from August 27 to September 1, commencing 9am to 6pm]

My publishers were also contributors to the above and referred to my book as the Jaffna Book. The heritage value happened before commercial value in Jaffna.

Mine was about Heritage and one has to pay one’s respects to heritage before embarking on producing current value outcomes. To me if not for such structures – the above ‘Book Fair’ would carry the high risk of assimilation. This inner value of heritage is recognized in management as Performance Indicators. I challenged the Auditor General here in NSW, Australia, over his public statement that Performance Indicators could be used in Audit. Auditor’s have their own performance indicators as per their common belief in their mandate. This being different to that of the clients’ – using Client Performance Indicators is a breach of fundamentals of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers between the Auditor and the Client Management. One who has belief does not need evidence and v.v.

Those of us who value heritage – have insight.

The Soul value of Buddhism in Sri Lanka has its origin in Buddha. Any ‘shows’ that one is a Buddhist – confirms lack of faith. Hence the imbalance and internal separations in groups of those who have the duty to base the Constitution on Soul value. If the source of their Soul value is Buddha – then they must expressly uphold that through Buddha Sasana being the Sri Lankan Constitution – instead of demoting it to relative status. Indiscriminately mixing two systems leads to mental illness.

The internal divisions began to show in 2015 when the current President of Sri Lanka who declared as an individual - that Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country – separated from his former senior – under whose leadership war victory  against  Tamil militants was claimed. A joint venture was formed towards the purpose of weakening the Rajapaksa regime. Eventually, that political party divided into two and the current contender for the position of President – Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is from the junior party – SLPP which has no political heritage that an independent person could identify with. The heritage is purely that of the Rajapaksa family based on war outcomes that were achieved by setting aside common principles of war – as recognized by  this generation.

War crimes allegations were ‘forgotten’ during the post-war period by the current government. This then meant that de facto relationships were accepted in the business of government – especially in Defence - which portfolio continues to be  Administered by the President – after the 19^th Amendment to the constitution also. But Truth being Soul power  – even if one  law-abiding victim of unruly war  feels genuinely hurt – that person’s pain would invoke the war-crimes karma through a chain of believers in law.

This seems to be the case with Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. The Sunday Observer reports as follows:

[Purawesi Balaya Convenor GaminiViyangoda and Professor Chandragupta Thenuwara lodged separate complaints with police headquarters last week demanding an investigation into media reports that cited irregularities in the alleged grant of dual citizenship to Rajapaksa in 2005, his electioneering that year in Sri Lanka as an American citizen, and his presence on the 2005 electoral rolls despite not being a citizen of Sri Lanka.]

The above citizens did not complain when Tamil civilian lives were lost and the dignity of the law abiding Sri Lankan Tamil was seriously damaged during the war, by government action. Had they done so in 2010 to prevent Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa becoming the President – their people would have been saved the pain that led to the separation of the SLFP in 2015.

We all have weaknesses and therefore we make mistakes. Once the mistake is manifested – we need to discipline ourselves through self-assessment, to prevent such pain. The manifestation may happen again in an environment like Sri Lanka where at government level - heritage has been ‘sold’ for current benefits. But to the extent we are protected by our corrections – we would not have direct pain.

Interestingly, a Tamil family is facing  deportation threats in Australia – at the same time as Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who is claiming his right to be President, is also experiencing immigration related challenges.  Would our Prime Minister Scott Morrison reject  Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa if the latter applied for residence visa to Australia? If the Australian Government would not blacklist the individuals who have not cleared their names of allegations of war crimes – then it has the moral responsibility to not deport war-refugees who have the support of their community and fellow common Australians. Fears of war would spring again in Tamils if the Rajapaksa regime were to return to power. This needs to be included by our government to whom Australian citizens need to be more important than Sri Lankan governments and those who claim to be eligible to senior positions in that government that is yet to clear itself of war-crimes allegations.  That is how global governments also vote in Sri Lankan elections.

Truth manifests Itself when someone is in real need. Identifying with that truth and abiding by it – renders us and our heirs - universal protection from war-pain.